04_Biblica_1_A_Ossandon_Layout 1 13/11/12 11:38 Pagina 390 390 JUAN CARLOS OSSANDÓN the resolution (and the narrative’s climax) comes in 10,52, when Jesus proclaims salvation obtained through faith and the narrator indicates that the blind man receives his sight. However, if this episode is just a healing story, described as a plot of resolution, this way of ending is rather anomalous. The words of Jesus in 10,52a do not answer directly Bartimaeus’ re- quest, for he speaks of salvation and attributes it not to his power, but to the blind man’s faith. And the healing report appears on the lips of the narrator, who simply says that Bartimaeus received his sight, without any description of the miracle. Scholars noted long ago the strangeness of this ending: “The miracle itself is attached almost as an afterthought to Bartimaeus’ stubborn refusal to be intimidated by the crowd, and the solution is virtually no solution at all. It is simply a dismissal after a comment by Jesus identifying that stubbornness as faith” 32. This curious way of ending highlights Jesus’ final statement. Using identical words as those addressed to the hemorrhaging woman in Mark 5,34, he declares that Bartimaeus’ faith has been the determinant factor in his behavior and the cause of the miracle. The last words of the episode ― “He followed him on the way” ― confirm the predominance of faith’s manifestation over the heal- ing narrative. It makes no sense taking this sentence as the proof of the miracle ― if Bartimaeus walks, then he is able to see 33. He was blind, not paralytic! It is quite reasonable to conclude that the theme of the episode consists mainly in the revelation of Bartimaeus’ faith, rather than in the healing of his blindness. “The main emphasis of the story is the great faith of the blind beggar. This is clear from the climactic saying, ‘your faith has saved you’ (v. 52) and from the almost ex- clusive concentration on the behavior of Bartimaeus throughout most of the account” 34. 32 P.J. ACHTEMEIER, “And He Followed Him: Miracles and Discipleship in Mark 10:46-52”, Semeia 11 (1978) 115-145, here 120. The classification of this episode caused some trouble to form criticism. See BETZ, “Early Christian”, 69-72; M.G. STEINHAUSER, “The Form of the Bartimaeus Narrative”, NTS 32 (1986) 583-595. 33 STEIN, Mark, 491 and 497, takes it as both a sign of a call story and a proof of the healing. 34 C.D. MARSHALL, Faith as a Theme in Mark’s Narrative (NTS Mono- graph Series 64; Cambridge 1989) 125. See also S. SCHLUMBERGER, “Le récit de la foi de Bartimée (Marc 10/46-52)”, ETR 68 (1993) 73-81.